56. Resident safety, education and the value of time

AMSA ad lib

After being awake 24 hours straight, where’s your head at? Will it be ready for life or death decisions? The ACGME—the accrediting body for residency training in the U.S.—first adopted duty hour restrictions in 2003. In 2011, the ACGME introduced a 16-hour shift limit for first-year residents. The ACGME also granted nearly 190 waivers to certain internal medicine and surgery programs that were participating in the iCOMPARE and FIRST trials, respectively. These trials were intended to examine the effect of longer shifts for residents. Dr. Kelly Thibert says the trials themselves were—and continue to be—unethical, and that current pressure on the ACGME to reverse work hour restrictions is misplaced.